Remedies & Compensation Policy - Survey 2025

West Kent aims to deliver excellent services at all times. If something goes wrong, we will take steps to understand what happened and to put things right. The Remedies and Compensation policy outlines the range of remedies available to us.

This is an existing policy that we plan to update with specific rates of compensation, based on Housing Ombudsman recommendations, and we would like to know what you think of the changes.

Please read the draft updates before answering the following questions. The survey should take around 3-5 minutes to complete.

Please can we request feedback by the end of Sunday 23 November.

Thank you!

The draft update to the policy includes the following examples of situations when we may consider it appropriate to offer compensation and other remedies:

• we have not handled a complaint in accordance with our policy
• we have failed to provide a service that we have charged for
• we have not delivered a service in accordance with our published guidelines, without justifiable reason
• we have temporarily failed to provide essential amenities, such as heating, hot water, or power
• communication has been poor
• a resident has experienced financial loss due to our actions or lack of actions
• a resident is unable to use part of their home

The draft update to the policy provides examples of when compensation may be due where a resident has experienced actual loss due to our actions or lack of action. Examples include:

• increased heating/energy bills due our failure to complete a repair or a resident having to run temporary heating
• takeaway meals when disrepair makes a kitchen unusable
• the cost of replacing damaged carpet or furnishings
• the cost of reasonable alternative accommodation if our failure to repair has made a home uninhabitable
• cleaning costs where we have failed to leave a property in an acceptable condition.

Any costs should have been reasonably incurred, and we will ask for receipts as evidence where appropriate.

The draft update to the policy explains how West Kent will pay compensation for repairs we are responsible for if we have failed to complete the repair within our published guidelines. The list below outlines the level of compensation that we may pay:

Missed appointments
£30 per missed appointment

Loss of heating
£10 per day after target response time has elapsed (September to March)

Loss of hot water
£10 per day after target response time has elapsed

Total loss of power
£10 per day after target response time has elapsed

Loss of cooking facilities
£10 per day after target response time has elapsed

Loss of bathing facilities
£10 per household member per day after target response time has elapsed

Loss of use of kitchen or bathroom
25% of rent per day after target response time has elapsed

Loss of use of a bedroom or living room
20% of rent per after target response time has elapsed